Man smashed up seven bookies with hammer 'to send message about gambling addiction'

A man who smashed up seven bookmakers in a "protest" after losing up to £1,000-a-week gambling says he was glad it raised the issue of addiction.



Eric Baptista, 30, says he believes high street bookmakers should do more to allow problem gamblers to bar themselves from branches.



Baptista was handed 12 months in jail, suspended for two years, at Liverpool Crown Court in August last year after admitting seven counts of criminal damage, the Liverpool Echo reports.



But almost a year from the rampage in which he targeted seven William Hill branches in Aigburth, Toxteth and Wavertree, he says it was "an amazing adrenaline rush".



Last year the court heard he caused £36,000 worth of damage to betting terminals and TV screens after losing large amounts of money.